News

Tori Stromp, PhD, a recent graduate of the Department of Physiology and a member of the Saha Cardiovascular Research Center, recently received the prestigious Summa Cum Laude Award at the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine Conference.  The award is presented to less than 1% of the abstracts submitted to the conference and is rarely awarded to graduate students.  Tori will present her work at the annual conference April 22-27, 2017 in Honolulu, HI.

On Friday, March 31, 2017 Thitinart Sithisarn, MD successfully defended her dissertation and earned her PhD. Dr. Sithisarn completed her research while simultaneously holding a faculty position in Pediatrics. 

Dissertation Committee
Dr. Sandra Legan
Department of Physiology, Mentor

Dr. Ok-Kyong Park-Sarge
Department of Physiology

Dr. Melinda Wilson
Department of Physiology

Dr. Susan Barron
Department of Psychology

Congratulations to Laura Peterson of McCarthy Lab!

Laura has been awarded a 5 year NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

Click here to learn more about the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Click here to be directed to the 2017 Cardiovascular Research Day homepage

Congratulations Dr. Moylan! The Dept. of Biological Safety would like to thank the following labs for setting a shining ex-ample of lab housekeeping and maintenance. Well done! Nelson (Sanders-Brown) LOVELL (SANDERS-BRown) Perry S. (PSB) MOYLAN (MED SCI) GEDALY(MED SCI) Smalle (KTRDC)

On Tuesday, March 7th Physiology trainee Erica Weekman successfully defended her dissertation and earned her doctoral degree.

"Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease and vascular cognitive impairment"

Doctoral Committee Members 
Dr. Donna Wilcock
Department of Physiology, Mentor

Dr. Steve Estus
Department of Physiology

Dr. Elizabeth Head
Department of Pharmacology & Nutritional Sciences

Dr. Joe Abisambra
Department of Physiology

Nolan, M. W., T. L. Gieger, A. A. Karakashian, M. N. Nikolova-Karakashian, L. P. Posner, D. M. Roback, J. N. Rivera, and S. Chang. "Outcomes of Spatially Fractionated Radiotherapy (Grid) for Bulky Soft Tissue Sarcomas in a Large Animal Model." Technol Cancer Res Treat (Jan 01 2017): 1533034617690980. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1533034617690980.

Jenny Lutshumba from Gong Lab successfully defended her dissertation and earned her doctoral degree Friday, February 10, 2017.

Committee Members
Dr. Ming Cui Gong
Mentor, Department of Physiology

Dr. David Randall
Department of Physiology

Dr. Zhenheng Guo
Department of Pharmacology & Nutritional Sciences

Dr. Alan Daugherty
Department of Physiology

The URM Program was designed to provide students who receive minority fellowships with a mentor. The program was launched in Fall 2016 and will continue to grow and improve. The mentees are graduate students who either receive the Lyman T. Johnson Fellowship, the Southern Regional Education Board Fellowship, or the Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering Fellowship. The mentors are professors throughout the university who willingly volunteered to participate in the program.

Testimonial from Cheavar Blair - 

Alan Daugherty, senior associate dean for research at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, was recently approved to renew his contract as editor-in-chief of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology: Journal of the American Heart Association (ATVB) for a second five-year term. ATVB is one of the five core journals of the American Heart Association. As editor of ATVB, Daugherty’s primary focus is on publishing the most important new research studies related to a spectrum of vascular diseases.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 14, 2016) —

"also.... just because

I am working out the flavor for the 

1812 Overture

I will most likely put it into a lolli 

this is an incredible challenge

as it is making me cry while I listen…"

Taria Camerino's poetic email sums up her passion for helping people explore how flavor perception is influenced by more than the tongue.  Her emotion is genuine: as a gastral synesthete, she experiences ALL senses as taste.

The University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA) has been selected to participate in a multicenter, landmark $3.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to identify biomarkers for vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID). UK was one of just seven sites selected for the five-year NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) grant. The other sites are Boston University, Rush University, Johns Hopkins, University of Southern California, UCSF/UC-Davis and the University of New Mexico.

The end-of-year holidays are upon us, and for many, it’s a time made all the more meaningful by food. Dishes that are traditions in some families can be powerful reminders of coming together with loved ones to celebrate and reflect.

But, what if the foods that elicit such strong memory and emotion in us no longer tasted the same? Certain foods hold so much sentiment in our lives, how would we react if we could no longer have that experience?

We are pleased to announce the Grant Writing Workshop (GWW) for Spring Term, 2017. The GWW will meet from 3-5 pm on Thursdays in B413 BBSRB. Faculty tutors include Kathy Saatman, Brad Taylor, Brian Delisle, and Jim Geddes. This workshop is a great opportunity for trainees to gain hands-on experience regarding many facets of grant writing and fellowship applications which will benefit them now and in the future. As the workshop is limited to 10 participants, an application is required.

Congratulations Tori Stromp, PhD! Tori successfully defended her dissertation on November 28, 2016.

"Development and Application of Gadolinium Free Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Fibrosis Imaging for
Multi-Scale Study of Heart Failure in Patients with End Stage Renal Disease"

John Gensel, an assistant professor in the physiology department and the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center, and two members of his lab team—Bei Zhang and Taylor Otto—are featured in this podcast.

Taylor Otto, an undergraduate lab assistant in Gensel’s lab, described UK as being the full package. “We have it all here. It’s a good program to be able to come into, not really knowing what you want to exactly do in the science field, but being able to figure it out at the same time,” said Otto.

To celebrate the lives of those affected by Alzheimer's disease and to honor their caregivers, a purple light will glow at 13 locations on the University of Kentucky campus beginning Tuesday, Nov. 15. "Going Purple" will continue through Friday, Nov. 18. The promotion is a joint effort of the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA) and Elder Care at UK to promote Alzheimer's Awareness Month. Memorial Hall, Gatton College, Main Administration Building, W.T.

Clinicians and basic scientists convened to discuss challenges, triumphs and future directions in cardiovascular disease research during the 19th Annual Gill Heart Institute Cardiovascular Research Day on Nov. 4. Hosted by the UK Gill Heart Institute, the annual research day showcased scientific advancement in understanding and treating the various diseases of the blood vessels and heart. Topics presented at the conference ranged from identifying genomic markers correlated with heart disease to urging members of the public to put CPR training to action during an emergency.

The second annual Thomas V. Getchell, Ph.D., Memorial Award for excellence in grant writing was presented to Jenna Gollihue, a graduate student in the University of Kentucky Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center, on Nov. 2. The award honors the memory of Getchell, a former professor of physiology in the UK Department of Physiology who encouraged researchers to improve grant writing skills to acquire research funding. The award supports a travel stipend for a student participating in the annual Grant Writing Workshop.

Because Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia, many people use the two terms interchangeably. But inadequate blood flow to the brain due to microinfarcts, mini-strokes, or strokes is a hallmark of a disease called Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Dementia (VCID).